Tuesday, June 5, 2012

My Vacuum Cleaner Saga

I hope--I think--I'm pretty sure--I finally have a good vacuum cleaner! Most people don't really get excited about appliances, but I am excited about this.

For the last six years I have had a terrible time with vacuum cleaners.

I had a good Sears tank vacuum cleaner. It was nearly new and working great when I sold my house and moved into my new over-the-garage apartment. The new carpet looked great. It felt great underfoot. And it shed worse than any new carpet I have ever had. It promptly clogged the long hose on my vacuum to such an extent that I could neither clear the clog nor use the vacuum.

My son-in-law loves that type of vacuum, so I gave it to him. Chad is very clever and very persistent. He managed to clear the clog and is still using that vacuum.

I bought an upright vacuum (shorter hose, less apt to clog) of the bagless variety. I thought it would be great not to have to mess with vacuum bags, and it would be a money-saver not to have to always be buying bags. I was partly right. I did not have to buy bags and the hose did not clog. However...my extra fuzz-shedding carpet would fill the tank every time I vacuumed. The carpet fuzz would wrap around the filter section and have to be scraped off. Emptying the tank was a wrestling match every time. I felt like I needed a shower after every emptying.

About that time I also bought one of those mini-vacs that are supposed to be good for small, quick pick-ups and easier to use on stairs (I have a lot of stairs). I took it out of the box and discovered that it had a piece broken off. Took it back to the store; got a different brand. Got it home and found that its extension hose had a slit in it.

While I was staying at my mother's as a companion/caretaker, I bought an inexpensive vacuum for my sister and me to use in the basement, so we did not have to lug Mother's vacuum up and down stairs. After her death I left it there for the final clean up, and was unable to retrieve it before the house was sold.

I struggled on with my vacuum, until a couple of weeks ago. I got it out to vacuum and it was depositing more stuff on the kitchen rug than it was picking up. I suppose there was something caught in its brushes, but I was having a bad back day and could not wrestle with the thing to see what I could fix. It was the last straw!

I went to Consumer Reports on line and checked out vacuums. I was glad I did. The brand I was thinking about buying was halfway down their rating list and cost three times what their top rated models did.

Then I went to Amazon--the source of practically everything--and ordered my new vacuum. Today I tried it out. Wow! So much better! It is a Hoover Wind Tunnel, self-propelled model, upright, with bag. It even has a little light that lets you know when you have hit a section where there is more dirt that needs a few extra passes.

About Me

I was born and raised in a small Wyoming town, where I currently live. I have lived in several other places for nearly half my life, but always seem to come back here. I was born in 1941 and have seen huge changes in the culture and technology in that time. I am an introvert by nature and a "bookaholic." I love a good story!